Localness in Water-Sensitive Urban Development for Bhuj and Kozhikode, India

Outdated, updated, or not, the Brandt Line continues to provide a divide between ‘North’ and ‘South’, suggesting a dichotomy between the world’s ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ regions, respectively. To reduce the contrast between the two, and in response to the challenges posed by urban growth and climate crisis projections globally, the Water-Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) concept presents valued guiding principles for practice in the field of integrated urban design, planning and water management. Accompanying the WSUD concept, the Urban Water Transitions Framework (UWTF) facilitates the assessment of the progress of an urban environment towards the ultimate ‘water-sensitive city’ by means of illustrating the developmental steps through which to transition, differentiating more from less developed. By reflecting on the notion of water sensitivity by the hand of water practices and natural and altered hydrological processes in the case study cities Bhuj and Kozhikode in India, the article aims to cast light on contextual and cultural conditions and elements, challenging or contradicting the conventional Northern developmental progress put forward by WSUD and the UWTF. Through examples of barriers for water-sensitive urban development originating from striving for modernity, as opposed to opportunities for water-sensitive urban development which lie in preurban development local water practices, the article calls for a consideration of, and emphasis on, localness when assessing the state and potential of urban development.